Very, very, very busy at Redfish University!! September is filling up so book now! Guided Mr. Paul Heatherington this morning for a short early morning trip in north Pensacola Bay. Cloud cover and approaching storms made this morning a topwater anglers dream. Ran in the dark to get the first light bite and absolutely crushed the fish. Threw topwater in shallow water and landed countless speckled trout between 15-23″ with some 4-5# redfish in the mix. Only two areas really held fish this morning but there must have been hundreds of fish in these small areas. Total 30-40 trout and a handful of redfish. Back at the ramp at 830am. Lots of trips for the rest of August and September is filling up. Book now to secure a spot at Redfish University. You’ll be very glad you did!! E Holstman Please click an image to enlarge and view...
Read MoreWind and freshwater but lots of speckled trout at Redfish University-August 16, 2010
Trying to catch up on some rescheduled trips from last week’s Tropical Depression and overall crap weather. Guided Mr. Mitch Smith this morning and took a bumpy ride east in search of some redfish and trout. Started at first light with a 4# trout. Nice start but it was really hit or miss at several places today. Concentrated on a stretch of pretty clear water with depths ranging from 2-4′. Got quite a few 2-3# fish on topwaters but the fish were pretty difficult to raise because of the freshwater invasion in these areas. Fortunately, a loud subsurface bait did the trick and lots of very nice trout fell victim to the bait. We were also able to get several fish on the Berkley Powerbaits with rattle inserts. Come to think of it, we should have thrown the Berkley Rattle Shrimp in today’s yucky water. Oh well, Mitch received a few in his Redfish University goodies bag so maybe he’ll use them on his next trout fishing adventure. Covered lots of water this morning and only found big concentrations of fish in one big area so that’s where we returned. We saw a few redfish and redfish wakes but only one strike which spit the hook. Today’s trout total was 25-30 fish of all sizes, even caught a half trout after a shark clipped him in half. Hopefully the rain will stop in the next few days and the fishing will get a little better but we’re not complaining. Today’s tip: Clean, moving water with bait. No photos...
Read MoreA week of rain and cancellations, but here’s a fishing report from Redfish University-August 13, 2010
With the passing of TD#5 this week, Redfish University has laid low and rescheduled several guide trips for the coming weeks. High winds, rain and dirty water has made fishing tough, especially in the upper bays and Sound. It was an excellent opportunity for Redfish University to deliver its 2010 Hewes 21 Redfisher to The Ships Chandler in Destin to have a 50 hour service performed on the new Yamaha 250 SHO. Oil changed, lower unit oil change, plugs, a full system check/boat check and we’re ready to go! I refuse to let anyone touch my boats except Mac, Pete Jr.and Peter Sr. down at The Ships Chandler in Destin. Those needing Yamaha service, boat service, mounting of accessories, a new Yamaha and a new/used Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder or Contender, I would highly recommend The Ships Chandler. They do it right the first time, every time. Also, got a new lower housing for my Motorguide SW Digital at Bass Pro so we’re set. Redfish University has a full slate next week and the fishing will be excellent. Here’s a short fishing report from Redfish University. Early morning topwater for trout and redfish is excellent. We have been fishing sand bottom and mud bottom exclusively in the upper bays. From 515am-730am the optimal zone and I enjoy throwing the small Rapala Skitterwalks. Long casts on productive banks in Escambia, East and Blackwater Bays as well as Santa Rosa Sound. Make sure you are around large groups of mullets/small baits and you find plenty of redfish and trout. Once the sun gets up around 800am, I’ve been having great success with Berkley Gulp and Powerbait Jerkshads in camo or any natural color such as mullet, watermelon or rootbeer. Use these baits with a 1/8-1/4oz. Marsh Works jighead and you’re golden. Don’t forget your fluoro leader(2-3′) in 15 or 20#. Very simple fishing but extremely productive, especially if you’re around lots of fish. Those Mirrolure Mirrodines MR17 are also very productive once the sun has risen. The sightfishing for redfish in shallow water has been okay. The fish are cooperative but not very thick yet. Give it another few months. Deeper structure has also been a focus of Redfish University in...
Read MoreSolid morning of Speckled Trout and Redfish at Redfish University-August 9, 2010
Guided Mr. Dale Smith this morning in Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa in search of trout and redfish. Started with topwaters early and boated several quality trout in the 2-5# range with some medium 20-24″ redfish mixed in. As the morning heat rose, we concentrated on deeper water for the trout and even did some successful sightfishing for redfish in the shallows. Monday-Friday trips are great for this with very little boat traffic. The fish enjoyed a range of baits today from Berkley Jerkshads and Shrimp and spoons to topwaters and suspending baits. I guess if you’re around lots of quality fish they’ll pound most anything. Total for this morning was 25 trout and 9 redfish in a short 4.5 hour period. All fish released and the camera battery was...
Read MoreLots of trout and rain at Redfish University-August 5, 2010
Back from another short vacation and ready to fish. Guided Mr. John Prudhomme and friend Harris today for some trout and redfish action in Pensacola Bay. Started at first light and ran about 8 miles to our first area. Found plenty of medium trout on topwater baits in shallow water but these fish were not as aggressive as last week. Switched to sub-surface baits and improved our catch-rate a bit. Ran from the rain and storms and found some better trout in another area but still, not very aggressive. Eight wind direction shifts and erratic pressure didn’t help us today but we did as well as humanly possible. Ended up with 20-30 decent trout with 10-12 being great keepers. Also had a great redfish wake and blow-in and out. Probably an oversized fish but the strike was epic. All fish caught on Berkley Powerbaits and topwater baits. Different areas for tomorrow’s...
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